Mariners 4, Rangers 3

SEATTLE (AP)

Brandon Maurer shook the nerves, went back to relying on his
primary pitches and finally displayed why the Seattle Mariners felt
the 22-year-old was ready to make the jump from Double-A to the
majors.

The result was a celebratory shower that left the rookie
shivering.

''He's going through another first right now,'' Seattle manager
Eric Wedge noted as cheers emerged from the clubhouse.

Dustin Ackley snapped a sixth-inning tie with his first RBI of
the season, Maurer rebounded from a horrible start to throw six
strong innings for his first career victory and the Mariners beat
the Texas Rangers 4-3 on Sunday.

Raul Ibanez added a solo homer as Seattle salvaged a split of
the four-game series thanks largely to Maurer (1-2) finally showing
the promise he displayed in spring training that earned him a spot
in the rotation.

''He was much more in control today. More at ease, more
comfortable out there and obviously his stuff played out,'' Wedge
said. ''He's going through a lot of firsts as everybody does when
they get to the big leagues, especially for a starting pitcher.

''He was noticeably different I felt like out there today.''

In his first home start last Tuesday against Houston, Maurer
recorded just two outs and gave up six earned runs. It was about as
horrible a home debut as could be imagined for the rookie. But his
recovery on Sunday was impressive, allowing five hits and only two
runs before turning it over to the bullpen. Tom Wilhelmsen pitched
the ninth for his fifth save.

Maurer showed his youth and inexperience in his first two
starts. He got caught up in the moment both in his first start in
Oakland and his first home start against the Astros. But Seattle
continued to believe in Maurer's stuff to the point that newly
acquired starter Aaron Harang took the rotation spot of Blake
Beavan and not Maurer.

Maurer backed up that belief with the finest performance of his
young career. He struck out five and walked only one. And when
Texas did get to him for runs - in the second and fifth innings -
Maurer immediately responded with 1-2-3 innings the next time
out.

''To be honest the game plan was just to throw my game and not
look too much into hot zones and cold zones for hitters,'' Maurer
said. ''Get back to the basics.''

Texas took the lead in the fifth scoring twice with two outs.
Leury Garcia hit a one-out triple off the top of the wall in deep
right-center, but was cut down trying to score on Elvis Andrus'
grounder to second. Craig Gentry was hit by a pitch and Lance
Berkman ripped an RBI single on a full-count pitch to score Andrus.
Gentry advanced to third on Berkman's hit and score the go-ahead
run when Seattle catcher Jesus Montero couldn't handle Maurer's
tailing fastball and it went all the way to the backstop for a
passed ball.

Texas starter Nick Tepesch (1-1) went 5 2-3 innings in his
second career start, but could not get through the sixth holding
the lead. After striking out Justin Smoak to open the sixth, Kyle
Seager hit his second double of the game - he lined an RBI double
in the second. Montero followed with a broken-bat single that
dropped softly into shallow right field and allowed Seager to score
the tying run. The throw home was wide and Montero was able to
advance to second.

That proved large when Ackley - hitting just .108 entering the
day - dribbled a single back up the middle, scoring Montero.

''I think you can see the hits were capable of getting in bigger
situations and I think that's all we've been away from winning ball
games lately is one hit or two hits. Today we showed that we can do
that,'' Ackley said.

Texas threatened in the seventh after Mitch Moreland walked
against reliever Bobby LaFromboise and advanced to second on
Garcia's sacrifice bunt. Stephen Pryor took over and struck out
Andrus and Gentry to end the threat.

Pryor walked Adrian Beltre in the eighth and left with two outs
after straining a latissimus muscle. Oliver Perez gave up a bloop
single to David Murphy to put runners on the corners, but Geovany
Soto popped out to end the inning.

''Our pitching staff has done a great job as a whole. They've
kept us in ball games and helped us get off to a pretty good
start,'' Murphy said. ''Our offensive definitely needs to get in
gear sooner than later.''

NOTES: Rangers manager Ron Washington said Berkman will probably
be used in a pinch-hitting role the next three games with Texas
beginning interleague play at the Chicago Cubs. ... Seattle CF
Franklin Gutierrez is still bothered by tightness in his legs and
was out of the lineup. Seattle manager Eric Wedge is hopeful
Gutierrez and OF Michael Morse (finger) could be ready to play on
Tuesday. ... Seattle is off on Monday, the last team in baseball to
get a day off. The Mariners' reward is 16 straight games after the
day off.

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